<p>I was so excited to get my AFROTC acceptance letter. But I also have a problem. The school I want to go to has a crosstown agreement, which means every Tuesday you have to drive an hour to this other school, take your two classes there, then drive back. By the time you get back home, it’s pretty darn late. It’s only possible to take one Tuesday/Thursday class in the morning, and MAYBE one late at night. The AFROTC detachment is willing to work around any schedule conflicts I have for REQUIRED classes (I could skip out on the AIRS and Leadership classes for a semester), but not for those ones that you really want to take and will really help, but aren’t required.
I also want to do the Honors Program, and when I asked two students if it was possible to do both, they seemed to think that it would be very difficult because of the time commitment required for both (plus most Honors classes are on Tu/Th). I also really want to be on the intercollegiate track team.
I love the Air Force, and really appreciate what they have given me (15k a year!). I really want to do it, but I’m afraid that I will sacrifice part of my college education by doing so! Please help! Anyone who has had experience with this, or can provide any advice at all, it’s greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>I don't have experiance with ROTC other than seeing AROTC cadets do PT in the morning at the gym. But, what I think you should do is talk to the cadre and cadets from that particular detachment and see what the time requirements for AFROTC are. Then compare what the requirements for honors classes are, and talk to the track coach/athletes to see what their requirements are.
What you're making it sound like right now is that one of those things can't be done. If that ends up being the case, ask yourself, what's more important to you: how much do you want to serve the Air Force and our country as an officer? How much do you want to take these extra courses and be in the honors program? How much do you want to run track? Because that'll give you a clue as to where you're headed, and which programs to choose over the others, if it comes to that.
Here's another question: does your chosen university have any ROTC programs? It may be possible to train with another ROTC program, say AROTC, but be commissioned in the Air Force. I've seen AFROTC students do this through a sort of "distance-learning" program, though it's called something else.</p>
<p>Here's the deal...don't take an ROTC scholarship because you think it's money...yes, you are a college kid and you will want to live that life, but in the end of the day, you will make sacrifices for the military. This is just the first of many that will await you down the road. I don't know about the det that you are applying to, but DS's det also has other committments to fulfill as a det. One thing you need to realize is that your gpa and your involvement within the det will be a part of the determination for what the commander supports you for when you grad. I.E. carry a 3.0, and only show your face for Tues/Thurs, never being involved in the det, will make it harder for you to get a UPT slot then the cadet that has a 3.6 and a position. The cadets do have rank and jobs in the det, you want to be one of those kids that does, b/c than they see your committment to the AF, not to the scholarship. </p>
<p>Our DS is in the honors program, and to be truthful between the AFROTC scholarship, honors program and the college that is why he chose this route. However, if he had to sacrifice the honors program for AFROTC he would be willing to do it. The reason is simple, you will graduate as a 2nd lt. Depending on your major, the chance of you using your major day in day out as it was taught to you in the collegiate atmosphere is slim. Upon graduation you will go through some type of AF training for your specialty, honors courses are great, but will you need it to compete for an employment opportunity? No. At UMCP the honors program just gives you other chances to intern more than the avg degree. You also get to basically jump over the freshman classes, and can get the undergrad/Master degree simultaneously. </p>
<p>Remember in 5 yrs (when the committiment is up, if you don't go UPT), no employer will be looking at your undergrad degree, they will be looking at your work experience. Hopefully, you will also be smart enough to get your Masters on the AF dime, and that will be why employers will take you over the other person. Honors will mean nothing or very little on your resume.</p>
<p>Again don't take the AFROTC if you are half-heartedly in it, but whole-heartedly because of the money. The price is too high to pay. I see it in our DS, he loves his program, he loves his college, but everything he does including making Dean's list is to graduate and be commissioned into the AF. There is nothing wrong with choosing ROTC over the AFA, the AFA is not for everyone (DS still hates making his bed ;)), but don't choose the AFROTC because it will pay for you to live your dream for the next 4 yrs.</p>
<p>Thank you both for your replies. I have been in love with the military and the Air Force for a long time. I went to SumSem at USAFA and absolutely loved the lifestyle and had a great time. I am certainly not doing it for the money (we have enough saved up for me to pay for 4+ years), but that is definatly a big plus. </p>
<p>I know that I can't do all three programs together (track, ROTC, and honors) and that doing even ROTC and honors together would be very challenging. I shadowed a girl at the detachment, essentially living for a day the exact same life I would live. I had a blast and really enjoyed it. Many of the honors classes fall on that Tuesday that I have to be gone at the cross town school, which would make honors out of the question.</p>
<p>Pretty much what my big decision comes down to (or at least the way I see it) is a better education (in the book smarts term, I know that ROTC would teach me a great deal about life and teach me life-long lessons), taking all of the courses I want and doing the honors program, or doing AFROTC and having a lot of fun and learn a lot more. </p>
<p>A major thing I'm worried about is my career AFTER the AF. At this moment, I don't know whether I'd want to go career or not, so I would like to have options, but are there really real-world accounting related jobs in the AF? I know they do a lot of acquisitions and budgeting, but I'm afraid I'll get stuck in a job where I won't be able to use the skills I spent the last four years learning about.</p>
<p>You could be a finance officer, I suppose. It's certainly not for everyone, but if that's what you enjoy, go for it.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I would say that about 95% of us won't use many of the skills we learned about on a day-to-day basis. You'll see pilots that were English majors, maintenance officers that enjoyed Poli Sci, and missiliers that used to study biology. The truth is that your undergraduate major and your AFSC probably will not align.</p>
<p>You are not going to want to hear what I am going to say, but here goes....</p>
<p>Really re-think this scholarship, you maybe in love with the AF, but that doesn't mean you would be happy in it. You really need to be in the AF because you want to be in the AF, not b/c they have a career field that you can do and still get your degree. (PLEASE NOTE: I say that to all of the kids who want to be a pilot too!)</p>
<p>You have absolutely NO guarantee that in 4 yrs the AF will place you in a field that uses your degree...logically it should happen, but logic and reality sometimes don't occur :eek:</p>
<p>If you want to be an accountant, than go to college and be it...if you want to be an officer in the AF than go and do that. In the end of the day, you will be an Officer first, your job is second. You have no guarantee that you will be assigned finance...absolutely positively NONE. Cliche, but true for the military SERVICE BEFORE SELF...when you sign on that line, you belong to them and you are willing to put the needs of our military before your own...if the thought of being a maintenance office makes you shiver, than re-think signing. They will do everything they can to get you your dream, but I bet Bullet would tell you at the age of 18 when he took his scholarship, he never thought he would jump out of perfectly good airplanes or be sent to Iraq to fly a desk. At that age all he thought he was going to do for 20 yrs was fly a jet...little did he know :rolleyes:</p>
<p>BTW DS is majoring in Govt/Mil History he is 1 of the very many that wants to fly, but he also would be happy going into PA and just wearing the blue.</p>
<p>The needs of the Air Force can trump personal preference at almost any time.</p>
<p>"The needs of the Air Force" trumped my kids' preferences for foreign languages, so I would suspect the AF can and will trump any job you may feel you have prepared for in college. Listen to Soaring Dad and Bullet&Pima; they KNOW.</p>
<p>Working for the military is very specialized in every manner. They have regs that need to be filled before something can happen. You may learn to do finance in college one way and the AF will than teach you how they want you to do it. This of course is the reason many military officers are quickly snapped up by defense companies, because they know the procedure that is required by the military compared to the guy who worked at Price Waterhouse that only know how the "real world" does it.<br>
FInally, take a realistic look at the corporate world...I bet you would be surprised to learn that for finance you aren't moving anywhere (promotability) until you have a CPA, which takes yrs. Meanwhile, in the AF, even if you don't get finance, many times you will be in charge of people, which is a great resume builder. And you can use those 1st 2 yrs to buckle down and get your Masters, by the time you finish your Masters and pay back your committment for it, you should be done with your ROTC committment. This would allow you to have mangement, a Masters and work experience under your belt at the ripe old age of 26-27 and make you competitive in that "real world", plus you will have defense background, which companies like RAND, Lockheed, Booz, L-3 Com, Raytheon, SAIC, etc actively search for.</p>
<p>yes, apparently the Air Force needs more Russian speakers, because they weren't giving German, no matter what I did</p>
<p>guess i got super lucky when i got put into german 222 this semester...</p>
<p>Sehr gut, HNeedle! </p>
<p>Which instructor do you have?</p>
<p>Maj Christensen, until the course director (a female captain? forgot her name) gets back from iraq..</p>
<p>Potter really wanted Japanese, but got German.</p>
<p>wow, I would have given anything for German! I took 3 years in highschool and really liked the language</p>
<p>give it up for spanish! woohooooooo! ;)
sad part is, i really did give it my all on that language aptitude test...guess i'm just not a language person.
ah well, last semester. :)</p>
<p>Well spanish is probably the most useful language they offer...You have to use it in mitchell hall in many cases. All the other languages aren't applicable until you actually go somewhere else :)</p>
<p>aaahahahaha :)</p>
<p>lol you just said that!</p>
<p>lol, I didn't even try on the language test. I figured my time was better spent sleeping! :) But same thing, I only have 1 more semester of Spanish! My problem is I understand Spain (also Argentinian) spanish tons better than Mexican. And so far, my teachers here have been Equadorian and Mexican!</p>